THE SCIENTIFIC 7-MINUTE WORKOUT
(By GRETCHEN REYNOLDS, New York Times, May 9, 2013;
http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/05/09/the-scientific-7-minute-workout/)
DIRECTIONS
There’s growing evidence that high-intensity interval training provides many of the fitness
benefits of prolonged endurance training but in much less time.
Interval training, though, requires intervals. The extremely intense activity must be mixed with
brief periods of recovery. In “The Scientific 7-Minute Workout,” this recovery is provided in part
by a 10-second rest between exercises. But it’s also accomplished by alternating an exercise
that emphasizes the large muscles in the upper body with those in the lower body. During the
rest, the unexercised muscles have a moment to recuperate, which makes the order of the
exercises important.
The exercises should be performed in rapid succession, allowing 30 seconds for each, while,
throughout, the intensity hovers at about an 8 on a discomfort scale of 1 to 10. Those seven
minutes should be, in a word, unpleasant. The upside is, after seven minutes, you’re done.